The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A former senior Port Department official has branded the failure to remove multiple wrecks littering Bahamian waters “in a timely manner” as a major maritime safety hazard and “real nuisance and environmental concern”.

Brent Williamson, ex-assistant Port controller, and a 40-year international maritime consultant who has worked for both the Ministry of Transport and as a lecturer at LJM Maritime Academy, said wrecked vessels have often “remained in place for years” - stretching from Potter’s Cay to the Exumas - with little to no regulatory enforcement or salvaging efforts.

He unveiled his concerns in a report commissioned over the ongoing legal battle surrounding the $200m Rosewood Exuma development on Big Sampson Cay. Mr Williamson, who was hired by Callenders & Company, attorneys for Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club, the project’s chief opponent, detailed numerous maritime safety issues that he asserts were neglected in both the development’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP).

The study focuses on one of the most divisive issues in the battle between Turtlegrass and Rosewood Exuma’s developer, Miami-based Yntegra Group - commercial shipping moving through the environmentally-sensitive North Bay area between Big Sampson and Over Yonder Cay to reach the $200m project’s back-of-house service dock.

Mr Williamson, in a report which has been admitted as potential evidence for Turtlegrass’s planning appeal challenge to Rosewood Exuma’s preliminary site plan approval, highlighted the absence of “the necessary regulatory framework” to govern commercial shipping activity in North Bay.

He identified the absence of buoys, channel markers and other navigational aids for vessels transiting North Bay as being of “extreme concern”, and suggested that escort and marine pilot services from experienced local Exuma mariners will be required to enable unwary commercial ships dock and exit safely at Rosewood Exuma’s back-of-house facility. However, Mr Williamson argued that these and other key maritime safety issues were seemingly ignored in the project’s environmental reports.

Yntegra, though, has repeatedly argued that concerns voiced by Turtlegrass and environmental advocates over potential dredging for a commercial shipping channel through North Bay so that vessels can access its service dock have been exaggerated, over-hyped and misplaced. In a February 2026 Town Hall presentation, it asserted that no dredging for a service channel is required, and the only area set to be impacted by such activities is 1.26 acres around the service dock itself.

As for access, and the ability to navigate North Bay, Yntegra says it plans to use “shallow draft” landing-type craft with drafts in the four to eight-foot range and does not intend to use vessels with 10-15 feet draft. And it has also conducted navigation exercises with for Exuma-based Bahamian boat captains, while another purportedly confirmed “he would have no issues delivering fuel or accessing our proposed service dock”.

However, Captain Williamson’s assessment on The Bahamas’ failure to adequately deal with maritime wrecks - and the dangers they pose - is perhaps even more intriguing given the Government’s recent bid to crack down on abandoned and sunken vessels by imposing fines and sanctions on their owners.

“Wrecks, as defined by the Merchant Shipping Act of The Bahamas, have been a real nuisance and safety and environment concern in The Bahamas. There are wrecks left all over The Bahamas that have remained in place for years,” he wrote.

“These wrecks are a hazard to navigation and the marine environment. Wrecks can be seen from Potters Cay to the Exumas and beyond. There is an inability to have these wrecks removed in a timely manner; thus impacting the safety of navigation and safety in general.”

One such example is the $5m-plus legal battle that has erupted over a tug boat and barge that became stranded in an Abaco national park in late March 2024. Executive Marine Management Services, which was hired by the multi-billion Baker’s Bay development to transport sand and stones from Freeport to the latter’s Great Guana Cay location, in turn contracted FowlCo Maritime and Project Services’ tug boat to tow its barge.

FowlCo then sub-contracted the management, operation and crewing of its tug boat to Campbell Shipping Company and Campbell Marine. The two vessels’ subsequent grounding resulted in Executive Marine initiating Supreme Court legal action to recover what it alleges are “total losses” of $104,500, plus a further $3.593m in ‘special damages’ and $1.554m for purported ‘loss of future income’.

Given this wider backdrop, Mr Williamson said of North Bay: “It is essential that a regulatory framework is established at the North Bay to adequately manage, monitor, conserve and protect human lives, ships, other marine resources and the marine environment.

“It is critical that a regulatory framework is established prior to the introduction of commercial shipping activities. The ship types with specifications must be named to adequately conduct a marine risk assessment. These factors were not provided in the EIA or the EMP.”

This, though, was addressed by Yntegra in its Town Hall presentation. “The service dock is designed for shallow-draft landing craft and barges commonly used in Bahamian construction and supply operations, often with loaded drafts in the four to eight-feet range,” the Rosewood Exuma developer asserted. “We are not planning for deep-draft vessels that require 10 to 15 feet of water. The operational model aligns with vessels that already work successfully across the Family Islands.”

“We are not dependent exclusively on the existing vessels, and there are plenty of alternatives in the market of vessels that can safely and efficiently accommodate the navigation to the service dock…. It is important to state that the plan revisions reduced impact, avoided denser seagrass areas where possible, and limited dredging to approximately 1.26 acres for the service dock area.

“North Bay is not off-limits to progress. With responsible engineering and controlled operations, it can serve as a safe, limited-traffic gateway for service logistics without unnecessary alternatives that could cause greater disruption.”

Mr Williamson, though, argued that the need for navigational aids in North Bay be addressed as a matter of urgency - especially since government-maintained buoys in the Exumas are lacking.

“There are no buoys, channel markers or other aids to navigation established in North Bay. This is of extreme concern when considering the hazards to safety of navigation and the sensitive environmental nature of the North Bay,” he argued.

“There is a legal duty on the relevant authorities to ensure that these systems are put in place to protect lives, enhance the safety of navigation and to prevent pollution by ships.

“This issue should have been addressed at the outset of the [Rosewood Exuma] proposal prior to the introduction of any commercial vessel activity in the North Bay. In particular, aids to navigation are a fundamental safety requirement in any restricted or hazardous waterway, and their absence should have been identified and remedied during planning and assessment stage,” Mr Williamson argued.

“Even so, it should be noted that formal, government-maintained lateral buoys are exceptionally sparse, frequently missing or off-station in the shifting shallows of the Exuma Bank.” Pilot and escort services, according to a report which Turtlegrass is also aiming to have admitted as evidence in its Judicial Review challenge to Rosewood Exuma’s environmental approvals, also merit consideration.

“There are presently no requirements for mandatory escorts or pilotage service regulations within the North Bay and between Over Yonder Cay and Sampson Cay,” Mr Williamson said. “Escort services and marine pilotage services provide vessels with specialised expert knowledge of the area and assist ships in transiting the area safely.

“Navigating between Over Yonder Cay and Sampson Cay in the central Exumas involves shifting sandbars, strong tidal currents and shallow water corridors that make escort or pilotage services highly beneficial - and often necessary - depending on the vessel's specifications. [Neither] the EIA nor the EMP addresses the issue of escorts or pilotage for North Bay. This is concerning when considering the many grounding and wrecks that have occurred in the Exumas during previous years….

“Local navigational knowledge, pilotage and escort arrangements should have been considered as fundamental risk-mitigation measures when assessing the introduction of commercial marine traffic into North Bay,” Mr Williamson said.

“Given the prevailing circumstances and conditions within the area, including shifting sandbars, shallow and changing depths, strong tidal influences and the limitations of electronic charting, it would be expected that these measures be evaluated during the planning and assessment stages of the project.

“The EIA and EMP do not appear to provide a detailed assessment of whether pilotage, escort vessels, transit restrictions or other navigational safety measures would be required for vessels operating in North Bay. In circumstances where fuel deliveries, tanker operations, supply vessels or other commercial marine traffic are contemplated, consideration of such measures would form an important component of a comprehensive marine risk assessment and could assist in reducing identified navigational risks.”

Yet Yntegra, in its Town Hall presentation earlier this year, asserted: “During our process we have done numerous navigability assessments with local captains, with Captain Gregory Adderley, a highly experienced maritime professional and former Royal Bahamas Defence Force officer with over 35 years of combined military, commercial maritime and private charter experience, Dwight Rolle, Gerard Rolle and Therevous Black.

“All of them have held certified licenses of between 200 and 500 tons. In addition, Captain Linton Ritche, from Sol Petroleum Bahamas, a Bahamian captain and master mariner of international standards. Captain Ritche has over 30 years of experience doing fuel delivery in the Bahamas and the Exumas. Captain Ritche has confirmed he would have no issues delivering fuel and accessing our proposed service dock as presented.”